There are gay and lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people
They are smarter, richer, nicer than everybody else
They buy stuff – generally more than other people
They prefer to buy stuff from other GLBT people
Failing
g that,, theyy prefer
p
to buy
y stuff from brands they
y believe are “gay
g y
friendly”
If you “target them” they will buy

Page 3

What research forgets to mention
LGBT people are subject to the same influences as everybody else






Not a hermetically sealed closet in which gays, and lesbians and
transgendered people are isolated from the world
We exist in the same space as everybody else, so that
everything we see and do is related not only to how you speak to
me as a gay person,
person but also how you speak to me as a general
market person
We use media in the same way

And,
A
d lik
like everybody
b d else
l iin thi
this postt millennium
ill
i
world
ld we lilive iin,
We don’t want to be “targeted” or “reached” – we want to be
engaged, embraced, seduced, surprised, connected with
LGBT are nott more likely
lik l to
t pay more for
f commodity
dit products
d t just
j t
because the brand is perceived as “gay friendly”




The more involved and expensive the purchase, the less likely
they
h are to pay more ffor the
h same thing
hi
Page 4

But, they also buy some stuff for reasons specifically related to whom
they are as GLBT consumers
We buy shaving cream for a number of reasons straight people
don’t
A d iin some cases th
And
the needs
d th
thatt are fill
filled
d by
b th
the product
d t – the
th end
d
experience of the product, may be quite different




Teeth whitener, condoms

White T-Shirts
And in many cases the specifics of the products they buy could be
more fine tuned to requirements
q
that are based on being
g G or L or T




Financial services, insurance

Page 6

What does this mean

Simply showing up won’t cut it any more
Connecting with people takes more than a witty ad –people are not
sitting
itti att home
h
waiting
iti to
t hear
h
from
f
you, they
th now decide
d id when
h th
they
want to hear from you and what they want to talk to you about


services or products that are best enjoyed in an exclusive gay
context – adventure travel; clubs

Page 8

But…
Even in same product-same need category, there may be different
attributes that make the product or service more appealing to LGBT
customers versus the attributes that appeal to GM customers






Gay men are more likely to share homes with roommates as
opposed to family with kids – close to subway may be more
persuasive than close to school
Retirement product needs of lesbian couple are likely very
different from those of a GM couple
Even when laws demand full equality,
equality the attributes of products
have specific applicability based on being gay
o

Gay married couple has very different needs from an
insurance plan than straight couple

Page 9

Soâ&#x20AC;Ś

What we learned in our research is that gays
gays, lesbians and
transgendered will pay more for products and services that meet
their needs as LGBT persons, in functional or emotional ways better
than other products

Page 10

LGBT marketing virtuous circle

Relevant
Differentiated

A product or service that
is differentiated in terms
of its relevance to the
consumer specifically in
relation to being gay or
lesbian

Auth

entic
(com
p
a
n
y
philos
ophy)

How the company
engages the
consumer emotionally
policies that reflect
commitment
i
to equality
practice what they
preach

Page 11

Some discussion points

Just showing up
In an entertaining and
intrusive way
Based on this ad
ad, why would I
travel on Air Canada rather
than the competition?
Â&#x192;

Page 12

This is more offensive than
using GM creative

Page 13

Page 14

Sometimes advertising is not
meant to sell or persuade,
but simply to make a point

Page 15

Butt when
B
h th
they are meantt to
t sellll
or persuade, they need to say
something


Do people
D
l ttravell tto gett
connected? Or is getting
connected more like an
effect of traveling

Everybody knows why they
want to go to Vienna
This ad tells me that I will be
welcome and have fun being
who I am, when I go

Page 17

Position the destination as of interest because of it’s
it s “gayness”
gayness
Page 18

Category where degree of
gayness makes
k a big
bi
difference
Emphasizes attributes that can
make a big difference and
demonstrates how their
product meets the needs of
the customers uniquely
(guarantee)
Uses a wink-wink nudge nudge
subtlety that our research
suggests works really well in
the marketplace

Page 19

Connecting with the LGBT Market
For further information on how to invest and profit in
the LGBT market segment,
g
, call Laurence Bernstein
416 967 3337